Two years after Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, was implemented, women want PIL on polygamy, halala taken up
Noorjehan Safia Niaz and (right) Zubeda Khatoon Shaikh of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan at the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh. Pic/Suresh Karkera
It has been two years since the central government passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 (on July 30), thereby criminalising the practice of triple talaq. To mark the occasion and to throw light on how the law is not yet entirely fool-proof, the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), an autonomous organisation — comprising Muslim women who have been demanding a codified Muslim family law that prohibits discriminatory practices such as polygamy, divorce, halala, muta, and underage marriages — held a press conference at the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh on Thursday afternoon.
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Noorjehan Safia Niaz, co-founder of BMMA, and another member, Zubeida Khatoon, explained that the law has helped tremendously in bringing down the cases of triple talaq in the community. Speaking to mid-day, Safia said, “There is no doubt that the law has helped greatly…but the problem lies with the police who are hesitant to register a victim's complaint. Police stations remain the first institution which the victim approaches for redressal, but if the police themselves don’t register a complaint, then what is the point of the law? The attitude of police towards women victims is terrible.”
Overall though, BMMA said the legislation against triple divorce has had a positive impact. According to the group, the instances of triple talaq were high in 2016 and 2017, but after the legislation, case numbers came down drastically. The Mumbai BMMA Centre received 31 complaints of triple talaq in 2016. In 2019 there were 10 such cases and in 2020 the there were none.
However, BMMA’s Mumbai Unit received 27 cases of polygamy in 2019 and 13 in 2020. “Men are not divorcing women but resorting to polygamy,” said Safia.
She explained that police continue to harass victims and that their follow-ups are dismal as well. “Most don’t even know the new law. Cops do not readily file FIRs nor do they take immediate action. The law requires that the perpetrator be brought before the magistrate within 24 hours of the FIR being filed,” said Safia.
The group also wants the SC to take up the PIL against polygamy and halala and give their judgment as soon as possible, as well as create and implant a “comprehensively codified family law which prohibits child marriage, polygamy, and halala.”
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